· LEYLA ZANA ASKS TO BE FREED WITH HER COLLEAGUES.
On 16 January in a meeting of the ANAP parliamentary group the deputy from Diyarbekir,
Sebgetullah Seydaoglu, declared that the time had come for the Kurdish
deputies imprisoned in Turkey for eight years to be freed.

Questioned by the press the next day, he said that the former deputies'
medical conditions justified their being granted amnesty, adding that this
time Leyla Zana would accept such a decision if her colleagues also
benefited from it. "I have spoken with them, and Leyla Zana wants to be
granted amnesty, along with the other Kurdish deputies. If President Sezer
decides to grant amnesty, Leyla Zana will accept it", he declared.

Amnesty for Leyla Zana, who suffers from osteoporosis and circulatory
problems, was on the agenda in 1998, but Ms. Zana refused special treatment
in relation to her colleagues, rejecting the Turkish President's offer even
before the procedure had been completed.
 

· LEGAL AND POLICE OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE HADEP INTENSIFYING.
In the Constitutional Court on 17 January the Turkish General Prosecutor Sabih
Kanadoglu called for the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy party (HADEP) to be
banned for "links to the armed Kurdish rebellion."

After his hour-long indictment of the party, Mr. Kanadoglu told the press
that he had shown the Court how HADEP had become a center of activity aimed
at undermining the Constitutional principle of the indivisible unity of
Turkey.. "We have examined the evidence in the case and I have asked the
court to ban the party in view of the gravity, extent and nature of its
activities", he added.

In this trial, which began in January 1999, HADEP is accused of having
links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The formal accusation states
that HADEP acted according to the PKK's directions and served to
disseminate propaganda for it, and that its offices had become "recruitment
centers" for recruiting activists to the PKK's cause.

HADEP, which advocates a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, rejects
these accusations. The Constitutional Court is to hear HADEP's defence on
30th January. In the past, pro-Kurdish parties in Turkey have constantly
been banned by the Court.

Mr. Kanadoglu sped up the trial by asking the judges to hear the HADEP case
as soon as possible, claiming that any delay might harm the unity of the
nation. Banning the pro-Kurdish party will not fail to create tension
between Turkey and the European Union, for which Turkey is a candidate for
membership, requiring effort on her part to improve its disastrous record
on the respect for human rights and democracy.

Furthermore, in Adana on 15 January, three members of a local section of
HADEP were arrested for "aiding a separatist organisation". The three men,
previously questioned by the anti-terrorist police, were sent to the State
Security Court which imprisoned them after charging them with "aid to a
separatist organisation", a formula which refers to the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK). A few days before, about 15 members of HADEP had been taken
into custody in the same city of Adana.
 

· ACCUSATIONS, THREATS AND EXPULSIONS FOR STUDENTS, PARENTS
CAMPAIGNING FOR TEACHING OF THE KURDISH LANGUAGE.
On 14 January hundreds of students were prosecuted for having asked the appropriate
Turkish authorities for the teaching of Kurdish. Seventeen of the 270 students of
the University of Van, who made the request of the Education Office, are
still in detention, while others have been freed until trial after
appearing before the State Security Court (DGM).

Many other students from various Kurdish and Turkish provinces presented
the same request to the Education Offices, which are threatening to expel
the students. On 17 January, the head of Security in Istanbul decided to
charge 22 parents whose children, still in primary school, had requested
the teaching of Kurdish. The Turkish authorities claim that 60 other people
are still being questioned in Istanbul.
 

· ANKARA, WHILE FLOODING OF HISTORIC KURDISH SITES,
CRIES BARBARISM IN SAUDI DESTRUCTION OF OTTOMAN FORTRESS.
A dispute is raging between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which tore
down an Ottoman era fortress near the holy sites of Mecca. Turkey reacted
with anger to the destruction which took place a few weeks ago, accusing
the Wahhabite kingdom of "cultural genocide", while Turkish nationalist
extremists burned pictures of the Saudi king. Turkey, heir of the Ottoman
Empire, compared this destruction to the Taliban destruction of the Bamiyan
Buddhas in Afghanistan, and promised to lodge a complaint with UNESCO.

On Monday, 14 January, the Saudi ambassador to Turkey, Mohammad Al Bassam,
explaining that the fortress had been torn down to accommodate Moslem
pilgrims, promised that the Chateau of Ajyad would be reassembled further
away. That 18th century fortress was torn down to make room for a
commercial and residential center among many mega-projects under way to
modernise the holy city of Mecca, a project costing $533 million, entrusted
to a consortium of three companies, Mecca Construction, Bin Laden Group,
and Saudi Oger. "All decisions of the Saudi Arabian government are taken
for the good of the pilgrimage and the security and comfort of the
pilgrims", declared the ambassador, recalling nonetheless that the chateau
is Saudi property. The ambassador further put his Turkish counterparts into
question by saying that the fortress of Ajyad, built of stones and mud, is
only 200 years old. The sites of Zeugma were much more ancient, but the
Turkish government, in considering only the interests of its people, still
went on with its project of building the dams. "Remind me, what about the
fortress of Sinopi?"

Turkey, a Moslem country but a secular state, strongly condemned the
demolition of the fortress, announcing that as a sign of protest it planned
a partial boycott of the pilgrimage to Mecca, where some two million
faithful arrive from the four corners of the world every year.
 

· AGREEMENT ON MILITARY COOPERATION BETWEEN TURKEY AND RUSSIA.
On 14 January, Turkey and Russia signed an agreement of military cooperation
aiming to strengthen bilateral relations, often strained by reciprocal
accusations of support for each other's guerrilla groups, Kurdish and
Chechen. "This agreement, a sign of the friendship and cooperation between
Russia and Turkey, will serve as a good example for other countries in the
region", declared the Chief of Staff of the Turkish army, General Huseyin
Kivrikoglu, before signing it with his Russian counterpart Anatoly Kvachnin.

The agreement creates a legal basis for cooperation between the Russian and
Turkish armies and is to be followed by other agreements and protocols,
declared General Kivrikoglu. General Kvachnin noted that the agreement
would contribute to strengthening technical cooperation and cooperation in
training military personnel. "All this will benefit our states and people",
he said.

Turkey, a NATO member, and Russia developed close commercial relations
after the fall of the USSR, but their relations remain marked by frequent
accusations of support for the separatist movements considered "terrorist"
in each country, the Kurds in Turkey and the Chechens in Russia.

Turkey has long accused Russia of tolerating the presence of the PKK on its
territory and Moscow reproaches Ankara with sheltering Chechen rebels, who
in the last few years have carried out several hijackings of boats and
planes from Turkey. In November 2001, the two countries signed a plan of
action to strengthen bilateral cooperation, including in the war on
terrorism.
 

·  MALTHUSIAN LAW PROPOSED IN PARLIAMENT.
Mail Buyukerman, a Turkish deputy known for his eccentric ideas, claimed to
have proposed a bill to the government on 15 January envisaging vasectomy for
fathers of more than two children. "That would not only slow population growth,
but couples could then also have sexual relations without fear of pregnancy",
explained the independent deputy during a press conference in the
Parliament. He said he submitted his bill to the Vice-Premier Minister
Husamettin Ozkan, who responded "positively" to his proposal.
This project envisages vasectomies for men with more than two children.
Those who are recalcitrant will have to pay a fine of 20 billion Turkish
liras (about $14,600) or do a year in prison, the deputy explained. Men who
accept vasectomy after being sent to prison won't have to serve out their sentences.

The Turkish authorities are worried about the high rate of population
growth recorded in the Kurdish provinces while the Turkish regions, marked
by urbanisation, are facing a drop in the birth rate.